Amazing Cardinals

[ahmandi2]

Wow. Got 9 cardinals at a store a week or so ago; not one is sick, or dead. They're all thriving! Now we have a total of 11, a very nice little group, so bright and pretty in our big tank!

[Crissyloach]

That is good! Always great when you get a good healthy group. Watch em like a hawk for the next few weeks.

[palaeodave]

There should be a rule about having to post pictures if you're going to talk about your fish like that!

[Jim Powers]

Yes, definitely.

[ahmandi2]

Well I can send you pictures of the dead ones. That would be 8 now. They all passed this weekend, except for three. No damage on bodies at all.
I knew I shouldn't have said anything about how great they were doing! =/ cursed em,.

[EmilyMarie85]

Ouch!

[starsplitter7]

I am really sorry to hear that about your cardinals. I do much better with Cardinals than with Neons. I try to drip acclimate them when I bring them home. I don't float my bags. I put the fish and their water in a bucket and slowly drip the tank water into their bucket.

My local club has a lot of people in the fish business, because Florida is full of fish farms and importers. One gentleman worked for Wardley for years. Another is a wholeseller of fish. One thing they are trying to figure out is why fish die when they go from the wholeseller to the retailer to the buyer. One sneaks into retail stores and checks the water with conductivity meters, and find outrageous readings. Our tap water might read 250-400 and the retail tanks are reading 2500-4000 because of the addition of salt. This is shocking the fish when they come to the buyer's tank, and they blame themselves. This is causing a huge decline in the hobby, because people are frustrated with losing fish and money.

You may consider investing in a conductivity meter and checking your house water and the water from the fish store and then drip acclimating to match.

I was lucky in my last batch of Neons and Cardinals. I didn't lose any. But I have lost a lot in the past. If you go to Petco, they proudly announce that they have cups of salt in the tank. Don't buy fish from this store, unless you want to slowly acclimate your fish back to normal conditions.

[ahmandi2]

Ouch! That is a HUGE DIFFERENCE In tank water!!!!

[kimura]

I'm sorry for your loss . Here are my 2 cents :

I've found that more sensitive fish(any fish really) do much better in planted tanks than unplanted tanks.
Now, I won't build a tank without some live plants, even if it's just java moss.
I have a group of 8 rummy nose that have been together for 5-6 years going from a 29 to
a 75 and now retiring in a 40 gallon breeder with 8 striata.

The drip method is probably the best but I'm too impatient to set that up. I buy from a reliable familiar
store and watch the fish for awhile, looking for odd behavior or any disease. I'll usually hold the fish
in the car acting as a shock absorber to reduce stress. I set the bag in the tank for 20+ minutes with the lights off
to let the temperature adjust and then every 3-4 or so minutes I'll let a small amount of water in.
You should probably do this for 45 minutes or so and then net the fish to keep store water out of
your tank. I'm too lazy to do that so I just let the bag sink some so the fish can swim out when
they are ready. I'm usually pretty confident I didnt bring a disease home but it always helps to
have a UV sterolizer standing by

Rasporas are a hardy and beautiful alternative if the tetras arent working out. Good luck in the future.

[ahmandi2]

I did a sneak attack at Petco and grabbed some water out of a guarami tank. Checked against our water at home (tank water). Ph within .2!! I was surprised. However, it also showed me that our ph is too high. 7.2 Going to get some peat to help knock it down...
We have a pretty well planted tank, but I am thinking that tetras' are just not comfy in it as most of our plants are middle & foreground plants; so not really a good hidey option for tetras. We try to use anachris (sp?), but the fish eat it.
We're looking into other options for floating and tall plants. And I agree; I love rasboras, and am pretty sure that we'll be getting those when we decide to shop for more mid ground fish. I adore the harlequins!
Our four cardinals are still ok. Thinking maybe we should give them to our lfs; maybe they can find someone who has a tank that would be better for them....one with other cardinals.

[starsplitter7]

The salt added to the water will not show up in a pH test. It shows up with a conductivity meter or a hygrometer. If you bought them at Petco that's why they died. They heavily salt their water, almost brackish. If you have freshwater in your tanks, the shock of the change from salt to no salt kills the fish.